Russian strike on Komyshuvakha kills at least 53

Rescuers and police died in the attack, which the UN says may have violated international humanitarian law. Talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations are set for Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November.

Correction: An earlier version gave 43 dead in the headline, from President Zelensky's count of 5 November. By 6 November rescuers had recovered 53 bodies.

Rescue teams in Komyshuvakha pulled 43 bodies from the rubble of a Russian strike, with 53 people still missing, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday. By 6 November the count had risen to 53 bodies recovered, local authorities and Ukrinform reported, with around 50 people still missing. Zelensky warned the death toll could approach 100. Zaporizhzhia's regional administration head, Mykhailo Semikin, called it the region's deadliest strike since Russia's full-scale invasion began.

Bombs first hit the school as people gathered for aid, then the shelter where civilians, rescuers and police had taken cover, Semikin said. Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said the aid distribution's timing and location had been well publicized beforehand. The attack, she said, "seems to have violated the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law."

Two rescuers and four police officers died in the strike, the State Emergency Service said. Several other rescuers and police were injured, including two emergency workers hospitalized. Search teams and dog handlers from several regions reached the site in armored vehicles. Russian drones kept attacking the same area, and Ukrainian authorities reported further drone strikes that injured at least 17 people.

Zelensky said on 3 November that Ukraine must be helped to defend its skies, or Russia will never stop its missile strikes. He added that Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at energy infrastructure shortly after the Komyshuvakha strike. US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that the United States will bring Ukrainian and Russian delegations to Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November. The delegations will discuss ending the conflict, postwar security agreements and de-escalation.